Palestinian children take cover in a United Nations operated school in Gaza City on Nov. 20. / Bernat Armangue, AP

by Naser Najjar, Ameera Ahmad and Ruby Russell,
Special for USA TODAY

by Naser Najjar, Ameera Ahmad and Ruby Russell,
Special for USA TODAY

GAZA CITY â?? Panic spread through Gaza City on Tuesday evening after Israel Defense Forces dropped leaflets on the north of the city warning residents to evacuate.

"When we left our office we saw a lot of traffic and couldn't find a taxi to get home because people were busy evacuating their families using any transport possible," said Sukrit Kapoor, a lawyer with the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza City, which had evacuated its offices.

"Most are heading further south â?? or if they have no one there they are in big trouble, because a lot of people close to the border have already shifted inside the strip and most civilian houses are already packed," he said.

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi said Tuesday he expected a cease-fire to take effect by the end of the day, but Gazans were not optimistic. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a ground invasion is possible if Hamas refuses to stop a more than week-long barrage of hundreds of rockets fired into Israel.

Thousands of Israeli troops and armored vehicles were massed along the Gaza border awaiting orders.

Leaders of Hamas, the U.S. designated terrorist group the rules Gaza, exhorted its members to keep firing rockets. Kapoor said some Gazans would rather see a cease-fire.

"They are very much hopeful for it, and very much want that to happen but right now it is difficult to be assured," he said. "A lot of people were displaced today so they are not very convinced that a cease-fire is close."

On Tuesday people has begun emerging from their homes to buy necessities as shuttered shops reopened. But Hamas rockets began blasting into the air in the morning, and Israeli air strikes escalated in the afternoon.

The Israel Defense Forces said its airstrikes had taken out numerous terrorist leaders including Yunis Shaluf, who it said fired rockets on the Israeli resort town of Eilat several months ago. The IDF also struck a bank belonging to Hamas and used by it to pay salaries of its members.

Hamas also kept up its firing of rockets throughout the day with an intensity not seen in the past two days. Ilham al Attar, from northern Gaza, said the Israeli army told her and her family to leave their home and head to safe places or shelters.

"We took all our children and my old mother with us, we are 25 people," she said. "I don't know what our fault is, we didn't do anything. Why did they ask us to leave? We have nowhere to go."

Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi arrived in Gaza on Tuesday along with a delegation of 13 Arab foreign ministers. The delegation entered through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt and made its way to Gaza City. On Salah Al Din street they observed the damage from Israeli strikes while residents picked through the rubble.

At least 10 people were killed in Gaza on Tuesday in various locations. Six Gazans suspected of collaborating with Israel were assassinated. The body of one suspected collaborator was dragged by a motorcycle through the streets of Gaza City. Crowds shouted, "Die collaborators, die Israel" as the body was driven past.

As rumors spread that a truce would be announced, Israel managed to interrupt broadcasts on the Hamas-owned Al-Aqsa channel.

"Leaders of Hamas, your time is coming to an end," the announcement said, showing the faces of the Hamas leadership.

Many Gazans interviewed said they were hoping for a true cease-fire â?? not a short-term one that would last only a few weeks. Some Gazans said they wanted to keep up the attacks against Israel even it meant more dead in Gaza.

Israeli strikes also destroyed Abdullah Ashour's home, killing one of his sons and seriously injuring another.

"The Israelis not capable of targeting the resistance, that's why they keep on targeting the normal civilians," said Ashour. "I'm willing to give up my other five sons for the sake of the cause."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton flew to Jerusalem on Tuesday with plans to visit Ramallah in the Palestinian West Bank and Cairo. She was not the only foreigner arriving in the region. Diplomats from France and Germany were arriving as well.

Egypt had been hosting peace talks, and some Egyptian men were in Gaza City to show their support for the Gazans, entering the territory through underground tunnels used for smuggling goods and people into Gaza.

"We came to Gaza strip to support the Palestinian people, and to show them that the Egyptian people are supporting you," said Moath Abd Al Karem, a 29-year-old pharmacist who said he was a member of the Egyptian Youth Revolution.

The group said they were of varying political stripes, some Islamist and some not, but were united in their opposition to Israel.

"Resisting the occupation is a right granted by all the international laws, and we support the Palestinian people's rights," Abd Al Karem said.